Past, Present, Future
by Gangsta Videl
Summary: Tod recieves a visit from a friend, and a certain story is retold. Onehsot, shoujo-ai. .... Gasp?


Past, Present, Future  
  
A/N: My English paper! XD Yes, folks, I actually wrote this for my English class. Ooh and aww now, I've not the time to waste on crappy notes. Uh... severely random pairing. May cause the explosion of one's brain cells, if you are unused to me and mine.  
  
And I used fansub names, since I didn't think my teacher would understand that "Tot" is German, and "Toto" is both a dog and a singing group, so... yeah... If you're used to me calling 'em by their English names, you're not getting that now. So HA. XP  
  
Shoujo-ai. No like, no read. I'm not *forcing* you, or anything.... *hides cattleprod*  
  
Disclaimer: I was forced to write this while using a list of vocabulary words. So no, I don't any of it.  
  
***  
  
"Tod?" a soft voice called out over the garden, waking up a young girl whom was seated under a cherry tree. "Are you in?"  
  
Tod---the girl in question---blinked. No one ever came to visit her anymore, not since her beloved Nagi moved away. So a visiter was unexpected, unusual, and highly exciting.  
  
She stood up quickly and brushed the dirt from her immaculately clean skirt. Not that it even had the chance to be dirty---she wasn't quite the neatest person around, but when it came to taking care of her clothes, Tod was the best.  
  
She then reached up to make sure that her hair was still in its double buns. Her eyes---hidden by a mirage of bangs---glittered at the prospect of Nagi maybe coming by and surprising her. Even if the voice from earlier hadn't been his---maybe he was masking it?  
  
Happily, the girl bounced away from the trees and through the messopotamia of fauna that grew all around in her garden. And it was her garden---Chen, Pel, and Noi (her beloved sisters) refused to help, and Papa was always too busy---so it was all Tod's responsibility. Not that she minded, of course.  
  
"Coming!" she called, hoping that whoever was there didn't leave. Guests were such a rarity nowadays....  
  
A grin reached Tod's face when she saw that her guest had short brown hair. Nagi had hair that color, and about that length. Maybe he'd finally come to visit her again?  
  
When she reached the ramparts of her white picket fence, Tod realized that her guest was not her Nagi-kun---but someone of equal love still the same.  
"Sakura!" she cried out, tearing the gate open and enveloping her young friend in a tight embrace. Sakura'd never come to visit her home before! What a treat!  
  
The younger girl smiled at Tod. It was true that both Sakura and Nagi did look a bit alike---and from a distance, one could mistake him for her, or vice versa. Not that Nagi and Sakura had ever even met---they hadn't---but they were quite alike, at least physically. Both had short, chin-length brown hair and large eyes, and were considered small and frail for their age.  
  
That was, though, where the similarities ended.  
  
Sakura was a kind, sweet girl of fifteen, always a little too suppliant in her speech and very shy. Nagi wasn't so much shy as he was quiet, and he was only as sweet as he wanted to be, which usually wasn't very.  
  
"Hi, Tod," Sakura said as she pulled away from Tod's extreme hug. Perhaps it was a little too sluggishly, though it was probably due to the fact that she'd not experienced a Tod-hug before. "I just came by to visit for a little while, before I have to go to work... "  
  
Tod nodded. She knew that Sakura worked at a little flower shop not too very far away, though Tod always did avoid it. It was suffice enough to say that she didn't get along well with any of its workers (save Sakura), and that it would probably be dangerous to head over there.  
  
"I've never been to your house before," Sakura said, looking around at the half-wrecked, half-rebuilt mansion. It was a sight to see, and the bright sunlight almost made it appear to be an image of a pheonix of sorts, rising from the ashes of ruin. "What... happened to it?"  
  
Tod pouted. The story was not a pretty one, nor one that she enjoyed having to relate. Especially to people like Sakura, who had no idea what the real reason why Tod stayed away from the flower shop was.  
  
"You see... Papa died, a long, long time ago. These really mean men killed him. And then Pel and Chen said that we should try and get revenge on the bad guys who killed him." Without naming names, of course, Tod was able to tell the story a little easier. "So... we waited for them to come. And when they did, they killed Noi.... "  
  
Tears formed in her brilliant blue eyes and fell, unnoticed. Sakura gasped lightly, but her reaction was telescopic in comparison to the reactions of others.  
  
"Noi... " Tod repeated. "I miss Noi.... "  
  
Unsure of how to reply verbally, Sakura placed a hand on her friend's shoulder as the two sat down. Disparagement clouded Tod's eyes, but she was very determined in finishing her story.  
  
"So, we waited again. Chen and Pel and I, we were going to get them all back for taking away Papa and Noi. And... when they came... " Tod swallowed the lump forming in her throat. "We lost."  
  
Sakura didn't understand. "Lost... ?"  
  
"There were more of them... The four that hurt Papa and Noi, three other mean men, and Nagi. Nagi actually cared, and... he was going to help me." Tod wiped at her eyes. "But... the men... They killed Chen, and then Pel. And they wanted to hurt me, too---" here, Sakura gasped "---but Nagi saved me." 'Again,' Tod thought. 'He saved me again... Nagi-kun always saves me... '  
  
"So... I'm all alone. Nagi had to leave, and my sisters are gone, and Papa... and even our home, too." She cast a look on the malignant-like building that once stood proud and was now nothing more than a shadow of its former glories.  
  
Sakura was silent for a while, piecing the information together slowly. She'd expected a monotonously boring visit, not one full of sadness and tears. And she'd never expected that Tod would have such a petulant past, either---she was so sweet and innocent!  
  
"I'm really sorry, Tod," she said finally. She knew that Tod's story was no make-believe piece of fiction, nor was it a novella---it was the sad and true story of her life. There was no moral or underlining prinicpal, just a very depressing past.  
  
"It's okay," the older girl replied calmly. Was she always this calm, or only when talking about her past? Sakura didn't know, and couldn't tell. Tod was hard to read at times.  
  
"No, it isn't," Sakura replied softly. She was just a soft-spoken person, but on this particular occassion... she felt like she was speaking more plaintively than softly. "You didn't deserve to lose all of them, Tod."  
  
"I didn't lose all of them," the girl pointed out, making Sakura blink in surprise. Before the brunette could fight her on that, Tod replied with a quick: "I still have you and Nagi-kun, don't I? So I'm not really alone at all!"  
  
Tod's smile was big and bright, and Sakura managed a small one herself. If Tod could be happy, even after all those horrors, then there was no reason that she should mourn. She'd never even met them, afterall--- though that was a truly terrible reason for not grieving over Tod's loss.  
  
"Come on!" the older girl continued cheerfully, jarring Sakura out of her thoughts. "I'll show you around!"  
  
And Sakura nodded, waiting to see just what other new things she'd learn about her friend today. As it turned out, she learned that Tod had been living alone for quite a few months, with a small, part-time job with an old friend of her 'Papa''s. Not that she needed the money---her (foster) father had been the son of a billionnaire, and the inheiritance was to be split between herself and her Papa's half-brother---it was much more of something to do to keep her mind off of certain things.  
  
Like loneliness, for one.  
  
"See? Isn't the mansion pretty, Sakura-chan?"  
  
The brunette smiled at her simplistic friend and nodded, which in turn caused Tod to grin proudly. She'd even shown Sakura her secret river, and the small estuary where she and Chen had picnicked once or twice. For something so small and musty, it was certainly very pretty.  
  
"I'm glad you showed me all of this, Tod," Sakura told her. The sheer fact that Tod had consecrated a good two and a half hours to her was gladdening enough, but that she'd been shown Tod's secret places, well... That really gave Sakura a much better insight on their friendship. "It really is a lovely place."  
  
"I know!" Tod replied, jubilant as ever. She was one in a million, that girl was. "I'm really happy you came by, too, Sakura-chan!" She said in perfect seriousness. It caught Sakura off-guard at first, when Tod moved over and stood merely inches away from her. Not so much so that she was offened, of course, but it was still a new maneuver.  
  
"Um, Tod?" she asked, a little nervous. The way things were processioning was a bit too fast for Sakura's liking. "I... "  
  
Tod smiled suddenly, and leaned forward, shocking Sakura by actually kissing her full-on the lips.  
  
The younger girl knew she was blushing madly when Tod moved away, still smiling, but she actually found herself smiling as well when her hand went up to meet her lips. "Wow... "  
  
Tod giggled. Always so childish! Then again, she was a child-like person...  
  
"Tod? What was that for?" Sakura asked quietly.  
  
The older girl smiled, but didn't say a thing. Instead she closed her eyes and sighed, as did Sakura---though for different reasons.  
  
It was frustrating, having a friend like Tod... but at the same time, Sakura wasn't so sure she wanted to imagine life without her.  
  
***  
  
A/N: ^^ Aren't they damn cute together? Yeah, that's what I thought, too... XD  
  
Am I mad? Insane? Corrupt? You tell me! Just click the button... you know you wanna.... XD  
  
Two more words before I go: ONE SHOT. No sequels, next chapters, NOTHINK. This is the truest definition of a one shot, I do believe....  
  
---Gangsta Videl 


End file.
